Myung-Whun Chung conducts Verdi’s masterpiece, on stage from 20 November, directed by Fabio Ceresa.
The triumphant third act of the Otello and its powerful drama may rightfully call the Fenice Theatre, and Venice by extension, home, even though the scene is not set in Venice, but in Cyprus, which at the time was in Venice’s possession. A typical venetian atmosphere, though, permeates the opera: the machination, the duels, the honour. Vicious Iago is consumed by envy since commander Otello (sic, in its Italian adaptation) choose Cassio as lieutenant instead of him. Iago vengeance by making Otello believe his wife, Desdemona, is unfaithful. The man will end up killing her, and then himself, once Iago’s perfidy is revealed.
As a work of art, the Otello exemplifies Verdi’s maturity and his going back to opera thirteen years after the Aida. In Otello, Wagner’s influence is obvious. The opera is an almost-uninterrupted stream of music and song, with no clear cut between scenes, and impeccable orchestral transitions beautifully piecing the story together. In the Fenice all-new staging by director Fabio Ceresa, he and conductor Myung- Whun Chung will join forces with tenor Francesco Meli, in his debut as Otello.
